Free Me - Dinluke AU

It's been a while

Over the next few years, Luke hadn't seen Din. He wanted to contact him but always chickened out and then the whole rebellion got more and more. On top of that Din said to call him if he needed help. So he had always assumed it was only for emergencies, still, no matter where he went he kept it close to him. After some time he had almost forgotten about it but every now and then when he stumbled upon the device he remembered the other and everything that he did for him.

He was sitting outside of Yoda's hut. Tired from all the training and being on this planet with only Yoda to keep him company. While he was thankful that he had a great teacher he would've definitely preferred Obi-Wan. Thinking about it made his stomach turn a bit. He never thanked him. When his old friend died he was still so mad about everything, about him not getting him out earlier. He didn't want him to think that he was still mad at him because he wasn't. To be honest he might have never really been mad at him. Thinking about it, sure there was the initial burst of anger but after that, he had just pretended to be angry and tried to convince himself that he was. It was a defense mechanism because, in fact, he had been scared, scared of being hurt again, scared of Obi-Wan leaving him.

His hand went over his neck, gently caressing it. It has been so long now but it still feels like it wasn't long enough. Those years have messed him up more than he would like to admit. He tried to forget it, tried to move on, to concentrate on his training on the rebellion but he couldn't. His hands got a bit shaky, not as bad as that one night when the Mandalorian comforted him but just enough for him to notice. He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself because even if he still couldn't fully shake those memories he had at least gotten a bit better at handling them. The thing was being on Dagobah with only RD2D as company was getting to him. He didn't like being isolated, being alone with his thoughts. But most of all he missed his family, the family he had finally found.

Every few nights he would just look up at the sky and try to imagine what the others were doing. Leia was probably still up working much to Han's disapproval. Luke knew they had a thing for each other even if the princess didn't want to admit it. He smiled to himself thinking about C3PO arguing with Chewie. His hand had stopped shaking ad he recalled playing that chess-like game with the Wookie. It had been fun. Being with them always made him feel safe, feel at home. He loved them and cared for them deeply, which was something Yoda clearly disapproved of. Luke knew he wasn't mad about it. It rather seemed like his teacher was worried.

Suddenly he got pulled out of his thoughts by a ringing. He almost jumped and immediately went to search for the old holo com that Din had given him. For a moment he just stared at it unsure if he should pick up or not. It felt as if his heart had stopped. Noticing how long he left it ringing already and scared the person on the other line would give up he quickly picked up.

Din had spent his years doing his normal work, though he could never ignore the nagging feeling that something might have happened to the other. He didn't quite know why he worried but he did. Those blue piercing eyes never left him. Over time he started to focus on other things and it worked for the most part. He even started working for Jabba again as if nothing happened. The Hutt was mad for the first few weeks after everything but got over it quickly handing it to him that he outsmarted him.

The empire never gave him much trouble. It was probably the benefit of wearing a helmet everywhere and keeping a low profile. He slipped through controls and past stormtroopers, none of them any wiser that he helped the rebels. To be fair he only really helped them because of the Jedi. If he had never met him he wouldn't have done anything. Sometimes that bothers him that he can turn a blind eye to things so easily if he wanted to. He ignored his thoughts and went to look for a new job. When he got to his usual joint he saw a group of bounty hunters huddled around some imperial soldiers. Knowing that this couldn't be good he joined the group to listen and find out more.